Xylem’s Annual Sustainability Report: The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Xylem’s new Sustainability Report, “The Opportunity of a Lifetime,”outlines the company’s commitment to partnering with customers and communities to pioneer new approaches to help solve the major water challenges of our time. The report also spotlights Xylem’s progress over the past year to advance its sustainability goals.

“At Xylem, we believe that if you can change water, you can change everything,” said Patrick Decker, President and CEO of Xylem. “Every day, we focus on harnessing the expertise and commitment of our nearly 17,000 colleagues to help make water safer, more accessible and more affordable for people and communities around the world. Working together, we are united in our purpose of creating both economic and social value.”

“As a global corporate citizen, we also continue to reduce our own environmental footprint and invest in communities around the world through both philanthropy and employee volunteerism. We believe that sustainability is a cornerstone of good business strategy, and our commitment to sustainability continues to be a key driver of our growth and our ability to deliver value to all of our stakeholders.”

In the report, Xylem details its progress against its five-year sustainability goals, which include reducing water use by 25 percent and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions intensity and waste-to-landfill by 20 percent each by 2019. Milestones include:

– Increasing the company’s vitality index by 500 basis points to 24 percent against its goal of 30 percent, fueled by investments in innovation and accelerating new product development. The company defines its vitality index as the percentage of sales from products launched in the past five years.

– Reducing GHG emissions intensity by 19 percent, driven in large part by the growing number of Xylem sites utilizing green electricity.

– Decreasing water intensity by nearly 17 percent, largely through more water collection and reuse at facilities.

– Diverting total waste to landfill by nearly 42 percent.

Xylem is also committed to driving external engagement on water challenges, advancing dialogue and action around sustainable water management solutions. For example, in 2017, the company signed the CEO Water Mandate, a UN Global Compact Initiative. Through Xylem Watermark, the company’s corporate citizenship initiative, Xylem colleagues across the globe made a difference in their own communities by volunteering more than 35,000 hours in water-related activities.

Over the past year, Xylem was recognized for its leadership in sustainability. Forbes and JUST Capital included Xylem in their America’s Most JUST Companies list and Barron’s ranked Xylem in the top 10 on its inaugural list of the 100 Most Sustainable Companies headquartered in the United States. Xylem also received an Engage for Good Gold Halo Award for the company’s Watermark employee volunteerism efforts.

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For more than 50 years, Making Waves has provided informed, useful and industry-leading commentary on the world of water – first in print and now as a digital magazine and social media channel. Making Waves is published by Xylem, a leading provider of fluid technology and equipment solutions for the planet’s most challenging water issues. www.xylem.com